It’s one week before the deadline to file with the Registrar of
Voters and not a single candidate for the Gilroy Unified School
District Board of Trustees has pulled papers.
It’s one week before the deadline to file with the Registrar of Voters and not a single candidate for the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees has pulled papers.
Three seats open up this year – Trustee Jaime Rosso has decided to run for a third term and just hasn’t filed, Trustee Pat Midtgaard is stepping down after one term and Board President Rhoda Bress did not return phone calls.
The deadline to file is Aug. 8. If an incumbent fails to file a declaration of candidacy by that date, the nomination period is extended to any person, other than an incumbent until Aug. 13. There is no filing fee. However, the fee for putting a candidate statement in the voter pamphlet is $1,700 for 200 words.
The registrar encourages candidates not to wait until the last day, said Election Division Coordinator Shannon Bushey. If no one runs, it’s up to the district to handle the situation.
Although he has not pulled papers, Director of Student Affairs at the Stanford University School of Medicine Fred Tovar plans to run. Tovar has served on a number of school boards and committees.
Midtgaard has been connected with the school district in one aspect or another since the 1970s, she said, as an administrator, teacher, parent and board member and even taught Trustee Javier Aguirre when he was in the sixth grade – “He was a sponge,” she remembered fondly.
“I think I’ve done what I can,” she said. “It’s time for a new perspective. My perspective has been worthwhile because of my background. I hope that somebody else who has been in the field would step up to the plate.”
Some of the biggest issues she’ll be leaving behind are the construction of Christopher High School, teacher salaries and vocational offerings.
“The biggest thing is CHS,” she said. “Another thing that’s very undone is where are we with vocational education … also, low teacher salaries. Gilroy’s a nice community but shoot, they gotta live.
“No matter when you walk out of a job, it’s like dirty laundry,” she said. “There’s always something not done.”
Meanwhile, Rosso is ready for a third term.
“I think I still have a lot to offer,” he said. “I’m still very invested in public schools. I know the district. I know it well. I know the players.”
Rosso’s main goals are to pass a $150 million bond, see the new high school to completion and continue improving overall academic achievement.
“Opening a new high school will reduce the stress of having a single monster high school,” he said. “When we opened a new student center at Gilroy High School, there was a dramatic change in mood. And that was just a new center. CHS is long overdue.”
Of the eight years Rosso served, he is most proud of the board’s work in improving test scores and facilities, he said.
“Improving public schools is not something that happens overnight,” he said. “It really takes a commitment.”
